A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using the words "like" or "as". The extended simile found in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451compares Clarisse's face to a mirror, which then is applied to Montag himself. It's as if Clarisse's face turns into a mirror as he thinks about her, thus ultimately bringing up Montag's face in front of him for analysis. Then, Montag himself, thinks up another simile to compare with the first. The...
A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using the words "like" or "as". The extended simile found in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 compares Clarisse's face to a mirror, which then is applied to Montag himself. It's as if Clarisse's face turns into a mirror as he thinks about her, thus ultimately bringing up Montag's face in front of him for analysis. Then, Montag himself, thinks up another simile to compare with the first. The passage is as follows:
"He glanced back at the wall. How like a mirror, too, her face. Impossible; for how many people did you know who refracted your own light to you? People were more often--he searched for a simile, found one in his work--torches, blazing away until they whiffed out" (11).
Hence, in this case, two similes are actually compared to each other. First the mirror is compared to his and Clarisse's faces; and then Montag contrasts her face against those of other people's. He realizes that other people's faces may light up for while, but they are eventually "whiffed out," or extinguished. Clarisse, on the other hand, shows his light to himself. He sees that both of them have a light within them that isn't easily extinguished. That light is life, and love, and inquisitiveness. This is significant because this is the event that sparks Montag to question the world in which he lives. This realization sets him on the path to analyzing his life and needing to discover what might be missing from it. He doesn't want to be a person who lives his life without that light and he sets out to discover it.
No comments:
Post a Comment